Iraq Economy 2008

Economy - overview:
Iraq's economy is dominated by the oil sector, which has traditionally provided about 95% of foreign exchange earnings. Although looting, insurgent attacks, and sabotage have undermined economy rebuilding efforts, economic activity is beginning to pick up in areas recently secured by the US military surge. Oil exports have recently reached levels seen before Operation Iraqi Freedom, and total government revenues have benefited from high oil prices. Despite political uncertainty, Iraq is making some progress in building the institutions needed to implement economic policy and has negotiated a debt reduction agreement with the Paris Club and a Standby Arrangement with the IMF. The International Compact with Iraq was established in May 2007 to integrate Iraq into the regional and global economy, and the Iraqi government is seeking to pass laws to strengthen its economy. This legislation includes a hydrocarbon law to encourage foreign investment and a revenue sharing law to equitably divide oil revenues within the nation, although both are still bogged down in discussions. The Central Bank has been successful in controlling inflation through appreciation of the dinar. Reducing corruption and implementing structural reforms, such as bank restructuring and developing the private sector, will be key to Iraq's economic success.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$100 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
$55.44 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
1% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$3,600 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 5%
industry: 68%
services: 27% (2006 est.)

Labor force:
7.4 million (2004 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: NA%

Unemployment rate:
18% to 30% (2006 est.)

Population below poverty line:
NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
20% (2007 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $53.62 billion
expenditures: $45.17 billion (2007 est.)

Agriculture - products:
wheat, barley, rice, vegetables, dates, cotton; cattle, sheep, poultry

Industries:
petroleum, chemicals, textiles, leather, construction materials, food processing, fertilizer, metal fabrication/processing

Industrial production growth rate:
4% (2007 est.)

Electricity - production:
105.1 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - consumption:
105.9 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2007)

Electricity - imports:
7.3 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Oil - production:
2 million bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - consumption:
395,000 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - exports:
1.8 million bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - imports:
98,330 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - proved reserves:
115 billion bbl (1 January 2007 est.)

natural gas - production:
3.5 billion cu m (2007 est.)

natural gas - consumption:
2.35 billion cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2005)

natural gas - proved reserves:
3.17 trillion cu m (1 January 2007 est.)

Current account balance:
$7.802 billion (2007 est.)

Exports:
$34.04 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities:
crude oil 84%, crude materials excluding fuels 8%, food and live animals 5%

Exports - partners:
US 46.8%, Italy 10.7%, Canada 6.2%, Spain 6.1% (2006)

Imports:
$23.09 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Imports - partners:
Syria 26.5%, Turkey 20.5%, US 11.8%, Jordan 7.2% (2006)

Economic aid - recipient:
$21.65 billion $13.5 billion pledged in foreign aid for 2004-07 from outside of the US, over $33 billion pledged total (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$21.26 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external:
$56.31 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Market value of publicly traded shares:
$NA

Currency (code):
New Iraqi dinar (NID) as of 22 January 2004

Exchange rates:
New Iraqi dinars per US dollar - 1,255 (2007), 1,466 (2006), 1,475 (2005), 1,890 (second half, 2003)